Sally Maxwell's artwork scratches the surface

2of6Sally Maxwell is noted for capturing the emotion and beauty of wildlife. Her work and story are featured in a new book, "Sally Maxwell - Scratching the Surface."

3of6Scratchboard artist Sally Maxwell: Profile of a Black Bear

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5of6Scratchboard artist Sally Maxwell: G'Morning Glory

6of6Scratchboard artist Sally Maxwell: B&W portrait

Yet another pounding spring rainstorm recently drove me off Texas 71 into little Fayetteville, a classic country town about halfway between Houston and Austin.

Looking for an interesting distraction to pass the time until the skies cleared, I wandered into the eclectic Red & White Gallery on the town square. I quickly found myself gazing at compelling images of zebras, a lion, polar bears and other wildlife, not really believing what I was seeing.

"They aren't paintings or photographs? They're scratchboard? Really? How does she do that?" I asked gallery co-owner Joan Herring.

Currently on exhibit are a number of large, detailed scratchboard artworks, mostly of wildlife, by Sally Maxwell, an award-winning master scratchboard artist who is credited with helping to advance the medium and elevate its status in the art world.

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Scratchboard art exhibit

What: Originals and prints will be on display at the Red & White Gallery through June 25.

Artist Sally Maxwell will give a talk at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at the gallery, where she will have some small scratchboards for people to take a scratch on. Copies of her book also are available at the gallery.

Maxwell, who lives and works nearby in the rolling countryside outside La Grange, is a pioneer scratchboard artist who also is noted for her keen ability to capture the emotion and beauty of wildlife. She helped introduce color into scratchboard drawings, developed how-to books on the subject and has introduced the medium to thousands of people.

Her work and story are featured in a new book, aptly titled "Sally Maxwell - Scratching the Surface."

"It's a mystery medium," Maxwell acknowledged. "People are very curious about it."

Maxwell's scratchboard roots go back some five decades to a time when she was living in suburban Chicago and working in her own design studio. One day, her then-husband brought home a book, board and tool to create scratchboard drawings. She tried it - and liked it immediately.

"I like design, and I liked the texture of scratchboard. I fell in love with the ability to create dramatic line work," Maxwell said. "I am more of a draftsman than a painter."

Scratchboard is a medium and an illustrative technique in which the artist uses knives and other tools to etch drawings into a scratchboard, which essentially consists of a layer of white clay coated with black India ink. In her work, Maxwell uses sandpaper and steel wool, anything that's scratchy.

The black-and-white drawings often have been used as illustrations in newspapers, books and other commercial materials, but the medium has been elevated from illustration and children's craft to a fine art form, thanks in part to Maxwell's efforts and achievements.

Maxwell first added color to one of her works in 1977 when she tinted the eye of a lion. She uses colored India ink in her work today.

"We have come a long, long way in the past 50 years," Maxwell said.

A divorce and the desire to be near her aging parents prompted Maxwell's move to the La Grange area in 1984. She opened a gallery in downtown La Grange called Phase Two, worked as a waitress and met her husband, George.

In the years following her move to La Grange, Maxwell's reputation as a scratchboard artist grew as her work evolved into fine art.

She also started a very productive collaboration with Buda-based Ampersand Art Materials, where artist Charles Ewing had developed a stronger scratchboard called Claybord. Her work with that outfit led her to develop how-to kits and booklets for the company. She also taught many workshops at art-materials trade shows.

"I really do pat myself on the back for giving birth to a whole generation of scratchboarders," Maxwell said.

Though animals have long been one of her subjects, a trip to Africa in 2009 had a profound effect on her work and helped her gain more recognition as a wildlife artist.

"I'm very interested in animals, and they translate so well in this art (medium)," she said. "I'm an observer. I love observing animal behavior and translating that behavior. Relationships are big in my work."

Maxwell was selected in 2011 to be one of the first seven master members of the newly formed International Society of Scratchboard Artists, and she was accepted into the American Women Artists in 2013. Her works have been in a number of exhibitions, and she continues to win awards.

The cost of her original scratchboard paintings ranges from about $5,000 to $25,000, though small ones are less, as are prints.

These days, she focuses much of her time on her own work, rather than teaching others. She continues to try new techniques and further develop her art.

"I love experimenting. I'm the pioneer, and I always hope to be the pioneer," Maxwell said. "I want to stay in front, with everyone looking at my rear.''